Trap, skeet and target shooters require concentration to achieve true aim. The movement of objects across the periphery of their vision and glare from sunlight are distracting, especially in the sport of trap or skeet shooting which involves shooting at an object as it moves rapidly in an arc across the shooter's field of vision.
The prior art teaches the use of a stiff bill or visor attached to the crown of the hat to eliminate or substantially reduce sunlight interference in the eyes of automobile drivers as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,876 (Hutton, 1967). The Hutton patent discloses a short visor of relatively stiff material which extends downward and around all three edges of the bill, the front as well as the two sides. The Hutton hat substantially blocks forward vision by the presence of the depending front visor, and does not eliminate movement distraction to the sides.
Other special sports hats are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,218,947 (Brunzell, 1939) for protective headgear to be worn by baseball players, and 4,356,048 (Price, 1982) for a water-impermeable bill. The crown of the Brunzell hat is made of hard material with a downwardly angled rigid bill which also has short, obliquely angled, tapered wing-like extensions at the sides to protect the temples of the wearer. Since the human temple is located adjacent and behind the eye sockets, it is possible to protect the temples without affecting the peripheral line of vision. The Brunzell temple-guards are of such short length and particular angle as to not block peripheral vision distractions, nor to assist the wearer to focus on forward vision targets.
Other hats function to keep the ears, neck and head of the wearer warm. One such hat is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,505,183 (Zucker, 1924) whose hat has a detachable rear flap for keeping the ears and back of the neck of the wearer warm and dry. A similar hat is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,134,983 (Lipkin, 1964) which is directed to a knitted, fold down ear and back of the neck flap having a layer of polyurethane foam laminated between the inner and outer layers of knitted material giving the hat structure and flexibility. Whipple 32,849 (1861) shows a military cap in fedora style having a soft felt crown and flared rear soft felt brim (called a cape), which brim tapers at the sides to a stiff leather bill in the front. Neither the Zucker, Lipkin, nor Whipple hat teaches the use of side blinders specially adapted to block distracting movements or sunlight from the peripheral vision of the shooter.
There is a commercially available hat, called the "Yupong" Korean hat, for use by hunters and target shooters. It has a fabric crown with a long bill and a pair of flexible side flaps. These side flaps may be attached to the top of the bill using velcro material. The bill consists of a rigid material, while the side blinders and crown are of non-rigid fabric material. Velcro patches are attached to the under-side of the flaps, extending 1/4-3/4 inch onto the under-side of the bill. Velcro patches are also located on the top forward portion of the flaps, and on the top forward section of the bill. Since the flaps are non-rigid, they may be folded up and rested on the top of the bill when not in use. The velcro on the top surface of the bill and side flaps serves to secure the flaps in that position.
This Yupong hat is a step in the wrong direction because the bill is long and cuts down the forward angle of vision, critical for trap, skeet and target shooters. Further, the soft fabric sides flap more easily in the wind and lag behind with motion of the shooter's head. Thus, they accentuate side vision distraction and unduly narrow the field of view. This Yupong hat causes false or delayed target acquisition, resulting in lower scores.
There is thus a great need for a shooter's hat that screens out distractions in the human range of peripheral vision while preserving the maximum useful horizontal and vertical range of vision.